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No one wants to see a church die. And yet, far too many churches are dying. For more than twenty-five years, Dr. Thom Rainer has helped churches grow, reverse the trends of decline, and has autopsied those that have died. From this experience, he has discovered twelve consistent themes among those churches that have died. Yet, it's not gloom and doom because from those twelve themes, lessons on how to keep your church alive have emerged.

Whether your church is vibrant or dying, whether you are a pastor or a church member, Autopsy of a Deceased Church will walk you through the radical paths necessary to keep your church alive to the glory of God and advancement of Christ's Kingdom!

Author Bio

Thom S. Rainer is the president and CEO of LifeWay Christian Resources, one of the largest Christian resource companies in the world. Also a respected pastor and researcher, he has written more than twenty books and coauthored the No. 1 best seller Simple Church. Rainer and his wife, Nellie Jo, have three grown sons, several grandchildren, and live in Nashville, Tennessee.

Don't pay attention to Bob's review (the guy that gave one star). The author did NOT say a church died just because it didn't have contemporary music. The author was talking about a man that couldn't move on when so many things changed around him within the church. The author used music as a TINY part of the example in the overall point the author was making. He was making the point that people complain when things change because they act like the church should remain static and never change. The ACTUAL point was that we can get too focused on staying the same instead of focusing on Christ and having the willingness to look past changes in the church and see what is really important.

Also, obviously this author will put his own views on each church situation about what caused the decline. I didn't read anything I thought was off by much if at all. In fact, he describes my church situation nearly perfectly. Also remember that not all churches suffer the same issues so when he says one guy had an unwillingness to change worship styles he is NOT arguing that newer worship styles are better but it was the unwillingness that was the problem. A great read and I would recommend it to any one in leadership. Glean from it and assess how well it applies to your situation.

The reason churches die has always been quite simple. Too many members are in love with their church, as opposed to being in love with Jesus. That coldness is transferred to visitors when they arrive. This book examines that in depth.